Page 72 - 2024-bfw-wiesner-hanks-ahws14e-proofs

THINKING LIKE A HISTORIAN

Humanist Peter Paul Vergerius, letter to Ubertinus Leonardo Bruni, letter to Lady Baptista
Learning 1 of Padua, 1392. The Venetian scholar 2 Malatesta, ca. 1405. The Florentine
humanist and city official Leonardo Bruni
and church official Vergerius (1370–1445)
advises the son of the ruler of Padua about advises the daughter of the duke of Urbino
Renaissance humanists the proper education for men. about the proper education for women.
wrote often and forcefully u We call those studies liberal which are u There are certain subjects in which, whilst
about education, and worthy of a free man; those studies by which we a modest proficiency is on all accounts to be
attain and practise virtue and wisdom; that edu- desired, a minute knowledge and excessive devo-
learning was also a subject cation which calls forth, trains and develops those tion seem to be a vain display. For instance, sub-
of artistic works shaped by highest gifts of body and of mind which ennoble tleties of Arithmetic and Geometry are not worthy
men, and which are rightly judged to rank next to absorb a cultivated mind, and the same must
humanist ideas. What did in dignity to virtue only. . . . Amongst these I be said of Astrology. You will be surprised to find
Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample.
humanists see as the best accord the first place to History, on grounds me suggesting (though with much more hesita-
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
both of its attractiveness and of its utility, qual- tion) that the great and complex art of Rhetoric
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
course of study and the ities which appeal equally to the scholar and to should be placed in the same category. My chief
purpose of education, and the statesman. Next in importance ranks Moral reason is the obvious one, that I have in view
Philosophy, which indeed is, in a peculiar sense, the cultivation most fitting to a woman. To her
For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.
how were these different a “Liberal Art,” in that its purpose is to teach men neither the intricacies of debate nor the oratori-
for men and women? the secret of true freedom. History, then, gives us cal artifices of action and delivery are of the least
the concrete examples of the precepts inculcated practical use, if indeed they are not positively
by philosophy. The one shews what men should unbecoming. Rhetoric in all its forms — public
do, the other what men have said and done in discussion, forensic argument, logical fence, and
the past, and what practical lessons we may draw the like — lies absolutely outside the province of
therefrom for the present day. I would indicate as woman. What Disciplines then are properly open
the third main branch of study, Eloquence, which to her? In the first place she has before her, as a
indeed holds a place of distinction amongst the subject peculiarly her own, the whole field of reli-
refined Arts. By philosophy we learn the essential gion and morals. The literature of the Church will
truth of things, which by eloquence we so exhibit thus claim her earnest study. . . . Moreover, the
in orderly adornment as to bring conviction to cultivated Christian lady has no need in the study
differing minds. And history provides the light of this weighty subject to confine herself to eccle-
of experience — a cumulative wisdom fit to sup- siastical writers. Morals, indeed, have been treated
plement the force of reason and the persuasion of of by the noblest intellects of Greece and Rome.
eloquence. For we allow that soundness of judg- [Then] I place History: a subject which must not
ment, wisdom of speech, integrity of conduct are on any account be neglected by one who aspires
the marks of a truly liberal temper. to true cultivation. For it is our duty to under-
stand the origins of our own history and its devel-
opment; and the achievements of Peoples and of
Kings.

ANALYZING THE EVIDENCE

1. According to these sources, what should people learn? Why should they learn?

2. Renaissance humanism has sometimes been viewed as opposed to religion, especially to
the teachings of the Catholic Church at the time. Do these sources support this idea?
3. How are the programs of study recommended for men and women similar? How and why

are they different?
4. How does the gender of the author shape his or her ideas about the human capacity for

54 reason and learning?

04_howsap14e_48443_ch02_044_079.indd 54 12/10/23 1:41 PM